Known primarily in recent years as a creator of fully loaded commuter bikes, Joe Breeze returns to full-suspension mountain bikes with the Repack, his first since the mid-nineties’ Twister, a decidedly XC-oriented racer.

This time around Breeze and offers us the Repack, a 160mm-travel bike aimed at the all-mountain and enduro crowds. Built around 27.5 wheels, the bike relies on a new suspension design called Mlink. The hallmark feature of this four-bar system is the placement of the chainstay pivot in the middle of the stay rather than at the dropout position seen on Horst-style designs.

Breeze claims this stiffens up the rear end by allowing the bike to use stiffer yoke-style forgings behind the seat tube. The pivots use bearings for smooth rotation and the rest of the linkage moves around 15mm collet-style axles to keep radial play at bay and provide long life and durability.

Mlink rear suspension places the chainstay pivot in the middle of the stay, which Breeze says provides more lateral stiffness. (Michael Yozell)

I took the Repack up to the trails above Bootleg Canyon, the site of Interbike’s Outdoor Demo, for a bit of firsthand experience.

The climb out of the expo area consists of a long, wide, fire road made up of loose sand, so I took Breeze’s advice and left the suspension completely open to really get a feel for how the bike climbs. There was little pedal-induced bobbing and the tires dug in and held on for great traction.

When the fire road topped out, I was greeted with a short section of loose-over-hard pack singletrack littered with short outcrops before the decent back to the show area. Scampering over the trail was a breeze (pun intended) and the suspension offered up a firm platform to launch over obstacles without a lot of bounce or wasted effort.

The descent opened with a long section of sweeping singletrack that wound down the wall of the canyon. The Repack’s steering was tight and predictable. As the terrain opened up a bit and speeds increased, the bike stayed nimble and flickable, deftly handling line changes and last-minute decisions to commit to bigger drops and trail features. In hard cornering situations there was little noticeable flex mid-frame, a testament to the theory behind Mlink.

As promised, the Repack doesn’t need to be thrown into corners, accommodating a more upright attack. But it can still be ridden aggressively, never shying away from rough sections of trail. The Repack may be the perfect bike for XC riders looking to make the jump to a longer-travel all-mountain bike or those looking to give enduro racing a try.